Why State subject laws are important? Dr Shabir Choudhry

Why State subject laws are important? Dr Shabir Choudhry

London       06 August 2018

Some people may not like it, but fact is the last Maharaja of undivided Jammu and Kashmir State was Hari Singh. He was a visionary leader, and far ahead of his contemporary Princely Rulers in undivided India.

He cared for his people, and it is due to his vision that we got State Subject laws, and a sense of belonging to a nation. This law was passed on 20 April 1927, many years before the partition of India. He visualised that his people could face problems, if people from outside the State are allowed to come and buy land and settle there.

Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir did us a great service by defining the State Subject laws. Many in forcibly divided State of Jammu and Kashmir don’t like Hari Singh, mainly because of his religion, ethnic background and region, but want protections under the laws enacted by him. This fact confirms validity and significance of this law.

These State Subject laws are still intact in parts of Jammu and Kashmir under Indian Administration. However, our Muslim brother, well-wisher and a big brother unilaterally abrogated this law in Gilgit Baltistan, and tens of thousands of Pakistanis have settled there. Some aspects of the economy are largely controlled by non-local people.

Icing on the cake is that we cannot even protest against this. Those who do are declared anti Pakistan, anti-state and agents of India. Not many want to live with these tags in South Asia because of threat to life, family and property.

When Pakistan, our big brother and well-wisher, illegally and without any consultation abrogated this law, there were hardly any voices against this; and there are many reasons for this. I can’t recall that anyone from the other side of the divide spoke in our support; or even spoke in near past.

No one felt our identity, rights and sense of belonging was being trampled by a country that claims to be a big brother and a well-wisher of people of Jammu and Kashmir. People of so called Azad Kashmir were not even allowed to travel to Gilgit Baltistan to express their solidarity and resentment.

Many decades after what Pakistan did, India wants to do the same. They think, like Pakistan, they can get away with it. I am not sure if they will. People of former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir can swallow every bitter pill that comes from Islamabad, and try to justify it or find something good in it.

When it comes to India, no matter what they do in the form of development, infrastructure and providing subsidies, people will find something wrong with all that. This is not to justify human rights abuses taking place in Kashmir. That is a separate topic and warrants a separate article to deal with all aspects of human suffering, causes and possible solutions. Generally, people like to talk of human rights abuses without looking at the causes, and without offering any solutions.

India has legal obligation to protect life, liberty and property of all citizens of Jammu and Kashmir. Despite that human rights abuses take place, and that must stop immediately. No human right should be committed under the pretext that Pakistan sends trained militants in Kashmir. It is not duty of innocent citizens to stop them and fight them. It is a prime responsibility of the government.

Under the threat of Pakistani sponsored jihad in Kashmir in 1947, The Maharaja was forced to accede to India. We still regard that as ‘provisional’, because people of Jammu and Kashmir have not given their verdict on it.

After that ‘accession’, India granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370, which made Jammu and Kashmir different to other Indian States. This special status was further protected under article 35A. However, it must be pointed out that it was not passed as a law by the Indian Parliament. It became a law because of the Presidential pronouncement in 1954.

The Article 35A empower the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define the State’s permanent residents and their special rights and privileges. The Act is often referred as the Permanent Resident’s Law, that ‘prohibits non-State residents from permanent settlement in the State, acquiring immoveable property, government employment, scholarships and aid’.

Many in India are against it because they think it is ‘discriminatory’ in nature. If a woman marries a non- permanent resident, she is disqualified from her State Subject rights. Also, children of a such woman don’t have succession rights.

The State Subject Ordinance was passed in 1927, under the prevailing situation of that time. Laws do change with time to cater for needs of the society. I am sure, this imbalance can be settled by legal experts.

I think issue is not this ‘discrimination’. Many in India, especially belonging to BJP feel this law is the main obstacle in Jammu and Kashmir becoming a ‘normal’ state within the Indian union. The policy makers of New Delhi want to strike at this article with intention of ending a separate identity for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They want to end this special status of Jammu and Kashmir enshrined in their constitution.

However, unlike Pakistan, they want to do it legally. The matter is now in the Indian Supreme Court, where three-member bench will deliberate on it. No matter what the Supreme Court decides, it is becoming clear that some people in New Delhi want more trouble and bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir. May Almighty help us and common sense prevails.

All loyal sons and daughters of the soil should speak against abrogation of this law in all regions of the divided State.

Writer is a renowned writer and author of many books. He is also a senior leader of UKPNP and Chairman South Asia Watch, London.

Email: Drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com       Twitter:  @Drshabir